A. Field of the Invention
The invention finds utility for monitoring intracranial pressure in diagnostic and post-operative situations, the pressure-sensitive apparatus of the invention being totally implantable in the cranium.
B. Description of the Prior Art
The need for monitoring intracranial pressure has long been recognized for applications involving intracranial hypertension. Although such a need is well-identified for hydrocephalic individuals and individuals who have undergone neurosurgery, other critical situations involve individuals subject to brain swelling, edema, obstruction of cerebral spinal fluid pathways, or intracranial space-occupying lesions. Accurate monitoring of the intracranial pressure in certain of these situations allows institution of emergency procedures should pressure rise to dangerous levels.
Common methods for measuring intracranial pressure involve implantation of a pressure transducer having wires which pass through the skull and scalp. Measurement of the pressure of the cerebral spinal fluid, which can be related to the intracranial pressure, has generally involved lumbar puncture or introduction of a catheter into the ventricular spaces. None of these techniques are suitable for prolonged measurement of these pressures. Danger of infection, patient discomfort, and the certain need for a second operation to remove the measuring device are negative aspects of all of these prior art techniques. Certain of these techniques actually cause leakage and blockage of the hydraulic system within the cranium and directly affect pressure measurements.
A number of intracranial pressure measurement systems have been postulated and even tested in recent years. Virtually all of these systems involved placement of a transducer within the cranium with wires passing through the scalp to a recordation sub-system. Use of these systems posed a constant risk of infection and required constant adjustments to compensate for changes in the position of the patient. Such systems were necessarily short-term in use. Attempts were made by Atkinson et al and Olson et al. in 1967 and 1968 respectively to implant a variable capacitor mounted on two sides of an air-filled tambour, the resonant frequency of the variable tuned circuit then being read by imposing a radio wave thereon through the intact scalp. The devices thus proposed were subject to extreme fragility and needed to be constantly recalibrated for temperature and atmospheric pressure changes. Further, error was prevalent in the use of these devices due to drift in the zero reading, i. e., "baseline drift".